Happy Father's Day
by Fueled By Dr. Pepper
Summary: It's that day - the first ultrasound. Is it a boy or a girl for Jake and Leah? 1755 words


**A/N: Matthew Jacob Meraz, Mattie, is the son of Paul Meraz and Rachel Black. He has imprinted on Nessie, a.k.a. Reneesme Carlie Cullen.

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Mattie face twitched with each second like the incremental movements of the clock hands sent unpleasant shocks through him. His leg shivered with anxiety and a groan just barely suppressed itself in his chest.

"Matthew Jacob Meraz, if you keep making that face I will leave you here for the ultrasound."

Mattie stopped twitching but sent a fleeting glare Leah's way, "You couldn't. I'd phase and follow you."

"And show up naked at the Cullen house? I thought you wanted to bother Edward, not shock him so bad he banishes you from Nessie forever."

Mattie had no response, he simply winced at the thought of being kept from Nessie. A half-minute passed and Mattie sighed emphatically. 10 more seconds passed and he stood up from his seat on the couch abruptly.

"When is Uncle Jake getting here?"

Leah's tired voice barely registered over the loud stomping paces he was making, "He said he would be here as soon as possible."

Mattie turned to make a smart remark but stopped. His aunt looked worried and scared, two emotions he would never associate with her normally. Her hands were wringing the hem of her new maternity shirt and she was chewing the corner of her bottom lip.

"Leah?"

Mattie moved a bit closer. Leah stopped fussing with her clothes and ran a hand through her hair when she saw that Mattie had noticed her flash of insecurity.

"I told you, he'd be here soon."

Mattie almost rolled his eyes, "I heard that. But are you alright?"

Leah waved him off but that fresh wave of fear rolling off her said otherwise. Mattie usually kept his puppy-dog eyes in reserve for his own slightly selfish use but this was an exception. Pout in tact, he prodded further.

"Auntie Leah, what's wrong? I'm worried."

Leah sighed and buried her face in her hands, "You're not the only one Mattie."

"What do you mean?"

"It's the first ultrasound. And . . . "

Mattie waited patiently for the last part of the sentence but it never came.

"Never mind that, you're too young to have to hear about all that."

Before he could try and push it further, Jake burst through the door, panicking to death as the room became relieved, "I didn't miss it, did I?"

Leah only chuckled and threw herself at Jake; an intense weight seemed to lift off of both of them at the contact.

The three of them made their way to the car, all moving quickly with nervous energy.

But, like every car trip since his birth, Mattie fell asleep only moments after being buckled in. Leah looked at him via the rearview mirror with fondness.

Jake was glancing sideways at her when he whispered, "In a few weeks, there'll be a baby's car seat there."

"Mom already picked out a few. Different designs, you know, that'll be narrowed down after today."

Jake picked up on the uncertainty in her voice, "Lee, you doing alright?"

She nodded; after a few more seconds, she let the first tears fall, and shook her head. Jake started to pull over but Leah motioned for him to keep driving.

"I'm just being silly. This is the first ultrasound and I'm worried that somehow, even with all my precautions, the baby might not be okay. I don't wanna feel like I've failed this child before she's even born."

Leah was looking down at her swollen gut with a bit of shame, as if already asking for forgiveness. Jake reached over and grasped Leah's hand.

"You are doing so many things right, Leah. There's no chance you've failed this kid, or me, or yourself. And our baby, well, she is gonna be happy, healthy, and as beautiful as her mom."

Leah smiled and moved both their hands to rest on her belly.

"You know you said she."

"So did you."

The couple shared a soft laugh and smile. From within the womb, the baby kicked, like a small shove near the hands above. It still sent goose bumps up their arms and put goofy smiles on their faces even though it was one time of many.

When they pulled up the house, instinct woke Mattie up and sent Nessie flying down the steps to meet them at the car. The younger pair talked a million miles an hour while Jake took his time helping Leah up the stairs, carefully making sure she balanced at all times.

Inside, there was chaos. Bella, Jasper, and Rosalie had left to hunt only a few hours prior. So the minute they stepped through the door, Edward bombarded Mattie about his thoughts while Nessie begged for him to back off. Emmett and Alice added fuel to the fire, with his blatant innuendo and her butting in on Nessie's behalf. It was a relief for Carlisle to herd Jake and Leah away from the noise and into the serenity of his office.

"How are you both doing? Are you ready for the new arrival?"

Ready, agonizingly awaiting, it was the same thing to them.

"Well, Doc, we're honestly just taking this one step at a time, you know, enjoying what we can," Jake talked to Carlisle with the same ease that he would have if it were any member of the pack asking.

Leah smiled, proud that he had become close to the experienced doctor. It would make the big day that much easier.

Carlisle began the preliminary check up, checking Leah's vitals and making small talk, "And how is Mom doing right now?"

Leah had already begun her stare down with the ultrasound machine that waited in the corner, she didn't fully register who he meant, "Sue's fine. She's with Charlie a lot more."

Jake laughed and kissed her temple, "He meant you, babe."

A few different shades of red danced along Leah's cheeks, "Sorry, I'm a little distracted. I'm . . . hanging in there."

"I understand. Let's check out how the baby's doing and maybe you'll feel a bit better after."

He wheeled the machine closer and explained how the scan would work. Leah nodded along but was more focused on her breathing. And not fainting. She definitely did not want to faint then.

"This is going to feel a bit cold. Especially on your skin."

A frightenly cool liquid touched Leah's bare stomach and both men chuckled at her reaction – jaw dropping and a quiet gasp.

When the machine started up and the soft but rapid thudding resounded in the air, it was Jake's turn to be awed.

"That's your baby's heartbeat."

Leah listened closely, trying to memorize the sound. Jake pressed his lips to her forehead, too speechless to say anything.

"And here, you get a good look at the heart, you can see it pumping. Strong, a good sign."

Their attention turned to the monitor for the first look at their child. Carlisle pointed out the limbs among the fuzzy shapes onscreen. He moved the probe to give them different angles.

"Big head."

Leah laughed at Jake's odd observation, "Like her father, no?"

She turned to Carlisle, "Or should I be saying his?"

"Let's see," Carlisle looked closely through several angles before leaning back and pointing to the screen, "I'm sure Alice will help pick out some beautiful dresses for your little girl."

Jake leaned in close, taking in all the small details he could. Next time he felt a bump from under Leah's flesh, he would be able to picture the movements the little arms and feet on screen would make to produce it.

"That's her."

There was a mix of pride and excitement in his voice, even at its whisper-like volume.

Carlisle changed angles to gather a few more measurements before finishing the scan.

"Do you have a name picked out?"

Leah wiped at her eyes, "Sarah."

A few more questions and a small clean up job and they were thrown back into the mess that was once the living room to the Cullen home. Nothing had been resolved and the volume remained quite high, since no one in the room could suffer the effects of a lost voice.

Esme had entered the room earlier, trying to formulate a plan to calm things down. But when she saw the ecstatic faces of Jake and Leah she couldn't help but shout out, "Does somebody have exciting news?"

The collective conscious registered the question and turned to the pair at the foot of the stairs for an answer.

"It's a girl."

The ladies and Mattie rushed to smother Leah in a hug while Edward and Emmett made more masculine moves to pat Jake on the back.

By the time they finally made their way home, a full baby shower (color scheme of pastels included) had been planned along with a minimum of three baby-related shopping days; Mattie and Nessie had successfully bothered Edward with talk about what their babies would, not might but would, look like; and Emmett had been successfully convinced that little Sarah could very well still grow up to be a star athlete.

In the car, Mattie muttered more sleeptalk about Nessie, though it more content than longing. Leah was still staring at the printouts of the ultrasound Carlisle had handed her. Jake was floating on cloud nine and was just a musical inkling short of bursting out into song.

"She's perfect."

"I know. She's our daughter – there's really no other options."

"I mean it, Jake. She's well within the 'normal' range of growth and everything."

"I meant it, too."

After all was said and done, it had been a long day for everyone. It was the most relieving comfort for Jake and Leah to crawl into bed that night. Leah was still scribbling a few last words into her pregnancy journal when Jake wrapped his body around hers.

"I will totally be ready for this fantastic embrace after I figure out a cute little sign off for today's entry."

Jake nuzzled her neck a bit, "Fine, just letting you know it's late."

Leah blew it off but peeked at the clock, "It's only . . . oh god, it's one. Hey, that means it's Father's day. Happy Father's Day, Daddy."

Jake kissed her cheek, "Thanks but I'm not yet ready for that name. Soon, but not just yet."

Leah smiled and glanced back at the journal. A little light bulb went off over Jake's head.

"I got a sign off for you, 'One fine day down'."

Leah grinned, penned it down and put away the journal.


End file.
